Former Auburn OC Derrick Nix Set to Join Arch Rival After Coaching Change

The Auburn Tigers now boast an entirely new offensive coaching staff, with head coach Alex Golesh taking over a few weeks ago, meaning Hugh Freeze’s former arsenal of supporting coaches has been almost entirely terminated.

The case is no different for Derrick Nix, who served as Auburn’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach for two seasons under Freeze. However, following the recent events and coaching change at the top, Nix was one of the coaching impacted and was relieved of his duties.

Thus, reports emerged on Tuesday evening from On3’s Pete Nakos saying that Alabama is expected to hire Nix as its wide receivers coach.

Alabama is expected to add Derrick Nix to its offensive staff, sources tell @On3sports.

Former Auburn offensive coordinator.https://t.co/CnbNAzrr8v pic.twitter.com/6oc36RwbDb
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 16, 2025

Nix was hired on Jan. 17, 2024, but spent about a year and a half behind the scenes in a lesser role with Freeze calling plays on the offensive side of the football. But when Freeze was fired after Auburn’s atrocious 10-3 loss to Kentucky in early November, Nix finally got his shot to prove that he’s able to effectively run the offense and call plays.

Although they lost two of the last three games at Vanderbilt and to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, the Tigers’ offense looked vastly improved from when Freeze was at the helm. Quarterback Ashton Daniels found some success, and the entire offense seemed to flow at a better rate – not great, but it showed signs of improvement when Nix took over play-calling duties.

Nix has a great amount of SEC experience, previously at Ole Miss for 16 years under various regimes, serving 12 years as the running backs coach and four as the Rebels’ wide receivers coach.

While this may come off as a slap in the face to some fans, as Nix is set to take a job at Auburn’s most-hated rival just across the state, the Tigers are undoubtedly in better hands with Golesh and company running the offense and completely cleaning house from Freeze’s tenure.

Golesh boasts an impressive record as both offensive coordinator and head coach at multiple different stops.

During his time as offensive coordinator at Tennessee, the Volunteers boasted the best offense in the nation statistically in 2022. Serving under head coach Josh Heupel, Tennessee ranked No. 1 in the FBS in points per game (46.1) and No. 1 in the FBS in total yards per game (525.5).

Fast forward a few years, as head coach at USF, the Bulls had one of the top offenses in the country – and Golesh did it at a Group of 5 school. This past season in 2025, USF recorded 43.0 points per game (4th in FBS) and 501.7 total yards per game (2nd in FBS).

Unlike Freeze’s system, Golesh has already announced that new offensive coordinator Joel Gordon will call plays. Gordon spent the past three seasons under Golesh at USF and was a large reason why the Bulls found so much offensive success.

One of Freeze’s biggest criticisms was his stubborn and, frankly, frustrating play-calling that failed the offense night in and night out. That situation looks to be greatly improved heading into 2026, as Golesh is expected to take more of a CEO-type role while allowing Gordon to handle play-calling.